Santa Barbara veterans met with Congressmember Lois Capps Tuesday morning to share the challenges of navigating the bureaucratic federal system. Capps talked about the importance of their stories, noting that these experiences might benefit others in the future. “Even if you don’t receive immediate help, it might help others,” she said.
Cheri Owen, Desert Storm vet, was in the Air Force and served in the Gulf War in 1993. During her service she developed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), was a victim of sexual harassment, and later developed multiple sclerosis. Unable to work and weighed down by medical bills, Owen was getting “very little service connection [disability].” She talked about the frustrations of dealing with a system where there isn’t always a human face. The veterans' service office is a 1800 number, she says. It was not until a visit to the Veterans’ Affairs office that she was recommended to contact Wendy Motta, district representative. Motta was a person, not a number, said Owen, and that made a world of a difference.
Together, they identified the big hold up in Owen’s automobile allowance and limited service connection. It was one piece of paper that verified she wasn’t working that no one had ever told her was missing. Once faxed over, her percentage increased to 100 percent connected, and her automobile allowance went through as well.